Thinking of pulling out of new build purchase and part ex sale

Davina_Hart

Need some urgent advise please.

We reserved a new built house with a builder at the end of March 2018 by making a payment of £1k. The builder decided to buy ours on part ex basis.At the time builder throw some incentives like stamp duty, white goods and flooring as they offered £10k less than market value of our house.
We accepted their offer considering we will not be in any chain and does not have to pay estate agent fees as builder would cover that.
Since reservation, we have opted in for some upgrades costing us £3k out of which we have already paid half £1.5k before exchange and remaining to be paid after exchange.

We are very close to exchanging contracts, which would happen sometime next week. Our solicitor and their solicitor have completed all inquiries and pretty much ready for exchange.
Good so far....but here is the issue. Due to market situation builders aren't selling the houses rapidly. Our builder has dropped £10k on some of their 4 bed plots and £5k on 3 bed plots (similar to our plot) from the asking price.
I am a bit surprised and now wanting building to drop the price on our plot too considering they are dropping prices on other plots.
I need advise if we can ask them to drop the price or somehow (cheque or kind or incentive) give us £5k back?
If they say no, then I need to know can we threaten them to pull out of the sale and purchase?
I take we are going to loose £1k reservation fee and money paid for upgrades?
Can they ask us to pay anything else too?
Please help.

Jaywood89

You can pull out up to exchange with minimum loss you are correct

I don!!!8217;t think anyone would advise against simply asking why are the plots being reduced. Be careful though as you stated they were (similar) not the same. If they were exactly the same I might be heading back to negotiations on price but I!!!8217;m sure they will give some reasons as to why, once you have some answers you can decided where to go from there

Davina_Hart

Jaywood89 wrote: »

You can pull out up to exchange with minimum loss you are correct

I don!!!8217;t think anyone would advise against simply asking why are the plots being reduced. Be careful though as you stated they were (similar) not the same. If they were exactly the same I might be heading back to negotiations on price but I!!!8217;m sure they will give some reasons as to why, once you have some answers you can decided where to go from there

Thanks for quick response.
I don't think they will ever give me the right reasons for drop in asking price.
Yes the one that we have reserved was the last one of those but £5k drop on other three bed houses are somewhat similar with more or less same plot size.
I will ask the question tomorrow but I know from dealing with them so far there would not be a straight answer.
Would I be liable to pay their solicitor fee and structural survey they carried out on my part ex property?
We have to do the maths to see if it is worth pulling out at last minute or not.

Many thanks

Shedman

How long do you envisage living there. How much are you paying? How keen on the house are you?

If you think you might be there more than 5 years and £5k is not a huge percentage of the whole cost (purchase price, conveyancing fees, savings on estate agents etc) then I'd be inclined to let things be and continue the purchase, especially if it's a property you are happy with.

Everybody gets a bit annoyed if somebody that comes in later appears to get a better deal (think last minute holiday deals as an example). But you have to step back and take the long view. Maybe your plot is better and you wouldn't have wanted the other plots, maybe prices will go up 50% in 5 years and £5k represents a minor blip, who knows.

However no harm in seeing if you can get a reduction or some additional freebies.

goodwithsaving

If you pulled out, how quickly would yours sell? For the same price as p-ex? In a difficult market, possibly not quickly and possibly not for the p-ex price.
Try getting extras, but don't threaten to pull out unless you're willing to go through on that threat

jimbog

Be polite and to the point.

State that you are aware that property prices have dropped by up to £10K in the immediate area and consequently your offer will be reduced by the same.

Don't ask why the others have dropped in price - it's not relevant and just gives the builder the opportunity to give you some flannel. But be prepared for the fact that they might say 'no'. But cross that bridge when you come to it.

lena_halo

Personally I would speak to them and maybe ask for a couple of extra or upgrades or the like. I don!!!8217;t think pulling out of a sale for £5k difference is worth it if you!!!8217;ve already gone through the decision of picking your plot and the kitchen, flooring etc. Plus there may be factors such as outside space, plot size, number of windows etc that may be affecting the price drop.

If you love the house and have already spent the time considering the extras and upgrades and everything you want, then to pull out over 5k seems a little dramatic.

Good luck!

jamesperrett

If the prices of new build houses are reducing in your area then they may also say that the price of your part exchange property should be lower now.

Niv

If you pull out now i think you would lose at least 4k= 1k deposit, 1.5k prepaid upgrades, 1.5k balance on the upgrades (this happened recently to someone else on here and they were 'shocked' to find out that they were expected to pay for extra upgrades they requested).


Also consider what jamesperrett says, very good point, if the new builds are reducing what is your place now 'worth' and how long do you think it would take to sell?


Buying a home is not 100% about the money, consider how much that aspirational 5k discount could cost you in; mental wellbeing, loses due to pulling out, time to sell current house, stress selling current house, they way you have to live when a viewer could be booked in at the last minute (i.e when you are at work so cant do a quick tidy), partner agro.